Dirk Warzecha New Head of Wintershall Dea Deutschland
Dirk Warzecha became head of the Wintershall Dea Business Unit in Germany on 1 May 2019. On 1 May 2019, the two German companies Wintershall Holding GmbH (Wintershall) and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA) completed their merger to become Wintershall Dea, thus establishing Europe’s leading independent gas and oil company. The German Business Unit of Wintershall Dea will be headquartered in Hamburg. “Domestic production makes an important contribution to energy supply in Germany”, says Dirk Warzecha. “We will continue to produce gas and oil reliably and sustainably for our German consumers.”
Dirk Warzecha has worked in various roles at DEA since 2003 and as a member of the Board of Management and Chief Operating Officer (COO) since 2013. The petroleum engineering graduate contributes extensive experience in natural gas and crude oil production acquired from various positions – both nationally and internationally. He was responsible for DEA’s activities in Egypt (2011-2012) and Manager of DEA’s Holstein Production District (Germany, 2010-2011), Reservoir Development (2008-2010) and Field Development in North Africa (2007-2008).
Dirk Warzecha is taking over from Mario Dreier, previously Head of Wintershall’s activities in Germany, and Uwe Balasus-Lange, previously Head of DEA’s German activities. Mario Dreier will in future be responsible as district manager for Wintershall Dea Deutschland’s crude oil production at Mittelplate/Dieksand in Schleswig-Holstein. Uwe Balasus-Lange will take over the functional unit “Global Production and Operational Excellence” at corporate level.
Wintershall and DEA can look back on a long history in Germany. Both companies were founded here more than 120 years ago and have already worked together for many decades as partners in several projects. Since 1985, Wintershall and DEA have jointly been developing Mittelplate, Germany’s biggest crude oil field in Schleswig-Holstein’s Wadden Sea. The project has set international standards for environmentally friendly and safe oil production in ecologically sensitive areas. Wintershall Dea also holds further licences for crude oil production in Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria. Another key focus of the German activities is on the production of natural gas. Both companies have licences for this in Lower Saxony and Bavaria. The Barnstorf location (Diepholz district) in Lower Saxony will in the future be the technology service center including the global core storage and vocational training location.
The merger between Wintershall and DEA offers both companies with their rich tradition the chance to respond to the challenges of a mature portfolio and, in doing so, extend the economic viability of domestic production. Wintershall Dea will continuously work on further developing production processes that conserve resources. “With the knowledge we acquire in development and production in Germany, we are successfully positioning ourselves in the world’s producing regions”, said Warzecha.
About Wintershall Dea
With the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, two successful companies with a long tradition have formed Europe’s leading independent natural gas and oil company: Wintershall Dea. The company with German roots and headquarters in Kassel and Hamburg explores for and produces gas and oil in 13 countries worldwide in an efficient and responsible manner. With activities in Europe, Russia, Latin America and the MENA region (Middle East & North Africa), Wintershall Dea has a global upstream portfolio and, with its participation in natural gas transport, is also active in the midstream business.
Wintershall Dea stands for more than 120 years of experience as an operator and project partner along the entire E&P value chain. The company employs around 4,000 people worldwide from over 60 nations. The company plans to increase its average daily production from around 590,000 barrels of oil equivalent to a range of 750,000 to 800,000 barrels in the period between 2021 and 2023. In the medium term, an initial public offering of Wintershall Dea is envisaged.
